File:The Perils of Pauline.jpg
The Perils of Pauline is a 1947 American film directed by George Marshall (director) and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Betty Hutton as White.
The film, a broad satire of silent-film production, is a musical-comedy vehicle for Hutton, filmed in Technicolor, with original songs by Frank Loesser (including the standards "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" and "Rumble, Rumble, Rumble").
Paul Panzer, who played the villain in the 1914 film, has a very small part in this film, as do silent-comedy veterans Chester Conklin, Hank Mann, Snub Pollard, and Jimmy Finlayson.
The film is in the public domain today. However, Universal Studios (through NBC Universal Television Group, successor-in-interest to EMKA, Ltd.) owns the original film elements. All public domain video releases are sourced from 16 mm television prints that have faded over the years.
Plot
"Pearl" is an ambitious hoyden who rises from amateur-night vaudeville to silent-screen stardom. The major plot line is the romantic relationship she has with Farrington, the hard driving boss (Lund) of the vaudevile troop she joins, the film career is a secondary plot line.
The film is highly anachronistic with Hutton generally performing in swing music style though the action takes places in the teens and early twenties. However the free-wheeling, less complicated and often impetuous nature of early silent film making is captured in spirit.
Cast
- Betty Hutton as Pearl White
- John Lund (actor) as Michael Farrington
- Billy De Wolfe as Mr. Timmy Timmons
- William Demarest as George "Mac" McGuire
- Constance Collier as Julia Gibbs
- Frank Faylen as Mr. Joe Gurt
- William Farnum as Western Saloon Set Hero
- Chester Conklin as Comic Chef
- Paul Panzer as Drawing Room Gent
- "Snub" Pollard as Western Saloon Set Propman
- James Finlayson (actor) as Comic Chef
- Creighton Hale as Marcelled Leading Man
- Hank Mann as Comic Chef
- Francis McDonald as Western Saloon Set Heavy
- Bert Roach as Western Saloon Set Bartender
- Heinie Conklin as Studio Cop
Soundtrack
- "Poor Pauline" (Written by Charles McCarron and Raymond Walker (songwriter))
- Betty Hutton - "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" (Written by Frank Loesser)
- Betty Hutton - "The Sewing Machine" (Written by Frank Loesser)
- Betty Hutton - "Rumble, Rumble, Rumble" (Written by Frank Loesser)
- Betty Hutton - "Poppa, Don't Preach To Me" (Written by Frank Loesser)
Awards
Frank Loesser was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Music, Original Song" for "I Wish I Didn't Love You So".< name="Oscars1948"></>
Category:1947 films
Category:1940s comedy films
Category:American films
Category:American comedy films
Category:Films directed by George Marshall
Category:English-language films
Category:Paramount Pictures films